Charles Chapman
“Finding the CCO’s ministry at Pitt is among the top five best things that ever happened to me in my life,” says Charles Chapman. “All that came out of it and the way God has used it is amazing.”
“I went to a Presbyterian church when I was in Baltimore, so I was looking for a Presbyterian church here,” he says. When Charles arrived at the University of Pittsburgh for his freshman year, he noticed a huge sign in front of the church across the street from his residence hall, advertising a weekly gathering of Christian college students. That’s how he first got connected to Cornerstone Christian Fellowship, the CCO-sponsored ministry hosted by Bellefield Presbyterian Church.
“When I came to Pitt, I already had an agenda, Charles says. “I knew that God was calling me to Pittsburgh and that there was work for me to do. I had considered dropping out of high school to be a missionary. I started tutoring at The Pittsburgh Project shortly after I arrived. I wanted to start a ministry to homeless people, and a month into my freshman year, I met Mike, who also wanted to do that. On November 2, the ministry officially started.”
That was 2002. Today, Charles is the Community Outreach Coordinator for LIVING Ministry, and Mike Ichimura is the Chief Operating Officer. LIVING Ministry—“Love Initiated Ventures Investing in Neglected Groups”—is a fully-developed nonprofit organization which reaches out to the homeless in Pittsburgh.
Cornerstone Christian Fellowship continues to be the number one source of volunteers for the ministry, two years after Charles graduated with his degree in social work. “I was very involved in Cornerstone throughout my college years, but now that I’m out of college, I’m more involved than ever,” he says. Not only does he recruit student volunteers, but he mentors four students intensively, and he occasionally speaks at the large-group meetings.
“Cornerstone gave me a place to grow, to be in Bible study with other guys my age,” he says. “The friends I developed during my freshman year are by best friends now. There were 45 freshmen involved the year I started, and almost all of us are still in Pittsburgh. I met my wife through the fellowship. If not for Cornerstone and the introduction that came between me and Mike as a result, LIVING Ministry wouldn’t exist.”
Charles and his wife, Liz, who works for Urban Impact and is pursuing a PhD at Pitt, live on Pittsburgh’s North Side, near the headquarters for LIVING Ministry. They are active members of Allegheny Center Alliance Church, participating in Sunday school, choir, and various outreach ministries of this active congregation.
And Charles appreciates the ongoing opportunity he has to invest in students’ lives through Cornerstone. “It was a safe place where I could continue learning and growing in my faith,” Charles says. “That was invaluable for me, and I’m glad that I’m able to give back in some way.”